Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay, its been quite some time and my lil Thayeri (11 inches) has still not eaten. Ive had him for about 3 weeks... and he's never fed (Although he did shed) I know that the shedding can cause him to not eat for awhile... about how long should I expect to wait before he'll take food? Are they known to be fussy eaters? I've read up on the different techniques I was wondering what you guys think is the best. I've heard that if you make a cut in the pinky's brain that it would be more appetizing to the snake... is there a lot of luck in that one? Also, what about Lizard Maker? And about how $much$ does it run?
Thanks guys.

-Aaron

Also, about how long does it take for them to actually eat the mouse after I drop it in there? Should I leave it in a day or so? And should I drop it right next to him? And im worried he might eat some of the bedding with it. Is that a problem?
lol... I just realized that was a massive barrage of questions, so if anyone is willing to tackle them. I'll be MEGA-appreciative
More thanks ,

-Aaron

First things first...
What did the person that you bought him from say he was feeding on? That's the best place to start. If you don't know, contact them and ask if it was feeding on frozen-thawed or live, and what size (pinky, fuzzy, etc). Usually a snake will feed readily right after shedding. However, you don't want to introduce food every day. That will stress the snake out. Make sure that you have adequate heat (82-85 degrees on the warm side), a hide box, and water. Introduce the food source in the evening, and let the guy alone for the rest of the night. If the food isn't eaten in the morning, remove it, and leave the snake alone for about 5 days or so. Then try again. In the meantime, you want to avoid handling the snake unless absolutely necessary until you get him feeding.

If you go through this feeding ritual 3 or 4 times and still don't get results, then you might want to go to a live pinky (if you were trying f/t previously), or else putting the snake and it's food in a deli-cup overnight. Again, if it hasn't eaten by the next day, remove the food and leave it alone for a few days.

I've tried the lizard maker product on some fussy eaters and it never worked. If you get really desperate, the next thing I would try that has worked for me is to get some russian dwarf hamsters from a pet store. They have a different smell than mice, and one of my extremely picky snakes finally started eating with them. There is also a type of field mouse that some people use called Deer Mice, but they are harder to come by.

Paul

I've used Lizard-Maker several times successfully. Mostly on Gray Bands, but thayeri are closely related...should work with them also. It is made by T-Rex and normally runs 7 or 8 bucks a bottle. A bottle will last a long time. I don't have a lot of success followng the bottle instructions, though. What I do is to rinse the live pinkie off thoroughly (but don't drown it), completely dry it with a paper towel, then put a little Lizard-Maker on another clean paper towel and wrap the pinkie up in there for a half hour or so to make sure to get plenty of scent on it.

The deli cup trick will work when nothing else will. I ahve had to leave the live scented pinkie in with the snake for as long as 2 or 3 days before the snake ate.

I've had luck with split-braining pinkies with things like Scarlet Kingsnakes, Pyros and stuff like that.